The last of 5....

So many milestones have occurred in the past (less than a) week:

Jackson graduated from Kindergarten last Thursday.  We had a fantastic time playing at Landfall park with all of our school friends.  Charlie and I organized some games...jump the creek, red light, green light, and dizzy bat relay.  These are all games the children love.  The kids had a snack and then time for the presentation of kindergarten certificates.  Now, I have to brag on my son just a tiny bit.  It's a "proud mama" time. Jackson read the most books in his class.  January, Mrs. Grzeck started sending books home each night.  The children sent the book back to school once reading it was mastered.  Jackson read 149 books from January to May, not to mention the books he read at home.  That is an all time high!!  Ok, ok enough of my "proud mama" moment! :)

Mrs. Grzeck, Jackson and Mrs. Hunter

We had a great Memorial Day weekend.  It felt like a mini-"stay"cation.  We met friends at the beach on Saturday, went to the pool on Sunday and back to the beach on Monday.  Jackson and Eliza are at such a fun age for the beach...no diaper changes, independently play (some), love jumping waves, no napping required...  Charlie and I are trying to soak up this age!  Also this weekend, our very good friend Kora is visiting.  Kora is the granddaughter of our next door neighbors.  She and Jackson have been playing since they could run around the backyard together.  We love when Kora and her sister, Maddie visit.  We always have so much fun with them!

Kora and Jackson relaxing in the hammock

On a sad note, our sitter, Liza B has graduated from UNCW (that's not the sad part; that's exciting!).  She will be returning to Camp Cheerio and moving on to another chapter in her life after camp.  We had a fun dinner at Brixx Friday evening (kid's restaurant choice, of course) and dessert at the Fuzzy Peach.  Unfortunately, Fuzzy Peach didn't have cookies & cream yogurt, but it was still delicious.  We will really miss you Liza B.  We love you!!!

Eliza, Liza B and Jackson outside the Fuzzy Peach

Jackson and Eliza both had play dates today.  Jackson went to his friend, Ben's house, and Eliza joined 4 friends at the beach, including Eliza's good friend, Caroline.  She is moving next week.  She and Caroline are buddies!  We will really miss Caroline!!!

Caroline and Eliza at school

Tonight, our family celebrated "the last of 5."  As Jackson said, "At midnight, I'm going to be 6 years old!"  He is quite excited.  All during dinner, he kept asking us if we've bought his presents and where they're hidden.  He was looking all around the house trying to uncover his gifts.  One day I'll tell him that his mother was the ultimate gift finder and guilty of unwrapping and re wrapping gifts (sorry mom, truth comes out!) just to find out what the gift was.  I know, I know, it ruined the surprise, but I just COULD NOT wait!  So, our children's gifts will be hidden so well the gifts will NEVER be found! :)  So..Jackson read his last bedtime story as a 5 year old, and he came out and gave me my last 5 year old hug and kiss before being tucked in for the night. Jackson came out of his room once to say, "I just can't go to sleep because my birthday is tomorrow, and I'm too excited!"  I love it!!  He's now fast asleep probably dreaming of his big day tomorrow.    It's so hard to believe 6 years ago today, he hadn't even made an entrance into our lives.  My, our lives have changed.  We have been truly blessed by his presence.  He's such an amazing kid!  We love you, Jackson!  Happy 6th birthday!!!

39 weeks pregnant with Jackson

Welcome to the world, Jackson Brady Lee!

5th birthday party at Jungle Rapids.
He's grown so much over the last year!

This can't be....

I'm starting this blog at 5:32AM.  Yes, my friends, AM!  I can't sleep, so I decided to get up rather than lay in bed tossing and turning.  I'm not sure WHY I can't sleep?!  Perhaps, it was hearing the sprinklers start, my knee being a little sore, or maybe I'm not able to stop my mind.  Oh, I know, maybe I'm thinking of my son graduating from Kindergarten today?!?  Whatever the reason, I'm awake, in the playroom blogging and watching the local morning show.  (I haven't brewed my first cup of coffee yet. That's coming soon...)

Last day of Kindergarten

 Wednesday was Jackson's last day at First Presbyterian Preschool and Kindergarten.  He started there at 15 months as a toddler.  I remember going to the parent's night, listening about carpool and spending time in his new classroom.  Jackson was speaking when he started in the toddler class, but he knew more sign language.  Me, being somewhat "over the top,"  made copies of the signs Jackson knew and gave them to the teacher.  My fear was Jackson would want some water, the teachers wouldn't be able to understand his words OR signs, and he would be thirsty.  He didn't go thirsty....  AND it was like overnight his vocabulary burst.  He went to bed one night and woke up the next morning with this amazing vocabulary.  Those toddler teachers were good!  Now, here I am, suffering from a bit of insomnia, thinking about Jackson graduating today.  This really can't be.... 

Eliza's last day of school. 

Acting silly....  nothing unusal!

Jackson chose the Mario shirt for his last day of Kindergarten. 
We all know about his obsession with Mario.
.

Our years at First Presbyterian Preschool have been AMAZING.  We couldn't have asked for a better teaching and learning environment for our son. 

Jackson with his first piece of artwork from preschool.

Jackson is very excited about starting his "new school."  It's rather close to our house, so we pass it several times a day, and we talk about him starting there nearly every time we pass.  I'll hear him tell Eliza, "That's my new school.  I'll be in first grade there."  She listens intently despite the fact she's heard those lines a hundred times. 

Eliza's last day in the 2 year old class at First Pres was on Wednesday too.  She had a great last day and brought home some sweet artwork.  My favorite was a book about Eliza.  One of the pages was made during Valentine's Day.  Her teachers ask her who she loved.  Eliza said, "Carrington, Jackson and Bennett loves me."  Bennett is one of the boys in her class.  My, oh, my...that's my Eliza.

Eliza last day: sitting with Mrs. Jones and Isabella.

We've been so busy the last several weeks.  What's been going on....

Charlie and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on May 12th and Charlie's birthday was May 13th.  The kids and I had fun taking Charlie out to dinner for his birthday and running by the Fuzzy Peach for his birthday "cake." We even took candles and say "Happy Birthday." 

Celebrating Charlie's birthday at Fuzzy Peach.

Complete with a candle.

Getting every last drop

We haven't been to our neighborhood pool yet, but we did get our inflatable pool out.  The kids have enjoyed splashing around in the pool, playing with their pool toys and the garden hose.  It's the simple things...  We visited the beach last Saturday and had a fun time!  The water is still pretty chilly.  Jackson didn't care in the least the water was cold.  He was in the water, boogy boarding and rolling in the waves.  Eliza (and her mother) was a little more apprehensive.  Eliza and I found that once you got your legs wet and stood for a minute, you got used to it.

New superhero: "Goggle Girl"

IJackson is "snorkeling."

I can't resist adding this blurb...I was helping Eliza get dressed Wednesday morning.  I was wearing a short-sleeved oxford shirt.  She says to me, "Why you got your dentist shirt on?"  I said, "Denist shirt?"  She said, "Yea, you got your dentist shirt on."  Not sure where she got that one....

And for a couple of pictures I can't resist adding.....

Eliza "cleaned out her closet" during rest time.  She and I had just cleaned out
clothes that were too small.  She thought she would "help" by cleaning out a little more! :)

Taking a nap with a lot of friends!

I had to include this sweet picture.  They're SO big!



A Day of Rest

Today, Jackson and I are at home for a day (or at least morning) of rest.  He has strep...again!!  Nothing a little amoxicillan can't remedy! I've decided to do a little "catch up" blog while Jackson watches a little Scooby Doo.."rut-row." 

So, you ask, what's been going on with the Lee clan in the last couple of weeks?  Well, here's a run down:

Jackson had a fantastic time on his weekend away with his friend, Sterling.  They fished, took canoe rides, slept on cots in Sterling's cabin, rode gators and don't forget "Angry Birds" on the iPads!!  I had a very sad little boy when I picked him up from the fun weekend.  He was disappointed to leave his friend.

Riding the gator

I love this picture of the boys fishing.

Roasting marshmallows

Eating a s'more.  Jackson LOVES s'mores (as does his mom!).

Fishin'

While away, Jackson caught a new (temporary) family member, "E.B." Affectionately named after "E.B." from the movie Hop.  It was a grasshopper.  He was able to take it to school on Monday to show and tell.  We "googled" what grasshoppers eat (google is our World Book Encyclopedia, and I admit, much easier to use!!), so Jackson could tell his class.  We decided to let "E.B." go back to the wild Monday afternoon.  It wasn't fair to him to keep him in the glass jar.  Jackson did very well letting him go.  We saved the jar for more bug catching adventures.

Jackson holding "E.B."

"Bye-bye, E.B.  Have fun in the wild!"

While Jackson was with Sterling for the weekend, Eliza spent the weekend with my parents.  She had an excellent time spending 2 nights with Nana and Papa.  They went to the library, to McDonald's (twice!!), fed the birds and played in the rice and bean container, which was one of her favorite things to do that weekend.  (Why do kids love the simplest things?!?  Not sure why we spend all this money on toys!)  Charlie and I didn't know what to do with ourselves...our house was SO quiet!  We went out Friday night, ran errands on Saturday with a little time set aside to relax by the pool and in the hammock.  We ate dinner while watching a movie on the couch.  Come to think of it, we like simple things too! 

Last weekend, Jackson had his last spring soccer game.  The opposing team had several of our friends playing, so it was fun for Jackson to see them.  It was cute...he was "caught" running next to one of his friends on the opposing team just chatting it up!  Love it!!   Jackson's team won, which was fun to see his team mates so excited!! 

Jackson added another trophy to his collection.

We also had time last weekend to enjoy National Comic Book Day with some friends.  We had a fun time at one of our local comic book stores.  Five families from Jackson's kindergarten class was there to help celebrate.  The kids received 3 free comics, a free gift (a Star Wars character for Jackson), face painting and meeting Spiderman, Batman, a Storm Trooper, Hans Solo and Jack Sparrow.  Of course, we bought a couple of things for Jackson and Eliza...who could resist?!?  Eliza enjoyed it too.  Two of her girlfriends from school came with their older brothers.  The girls had fun, holding hands and walking around.  After the comic book store, we all ate at Moe's and headed to the park for more fun.

The kids with a Storm Trooper.  Don't worry, he was nice!

What a fantastic Mother's Day we had.  After church, we enjoyed a surprise meal together.  The hint from Jackson: "It's where you can color on the table."  So, it was Macaroni Grill.  We hadn't been there in a really long time.  The kids gave me their presents.  Jackson made a frame with a drawn picture of himself inside.  Eliza made a book mark with her fingerprints as a caterpillar.  They also bought me a new watch and some lotion.  The cards were fantastic!  They made home made cards and also bought cards.  Jackson chose a dog with lipstick, at which he LOL, and Eliza chose a princess card, of course!

May is such a crazy month!!  This week, Charlie and I are celebrating our 10th year anniversary.  It's amazing how time flies.  I wish I had a wedding picture to upload to the blog, but "back then" the pictures weren't digital.  Hmmm...I'll have to work on that, but for now I do have a picture from parasailing on our honeymoon.  I can't believe how young we look!   We don't have any plans for our anniversary...yet.  We're going on a trip in November to celebrate.  Kidless in Negril....I believe I can hold out for that!

hahaha! 

Charlie also celebrates a birthday on Friday (the day after our wedding anniversary).  I won't tell you how old he's going to be, but I will say that he's OLDER than ME!  (Love you, babe!)  :)  We're going out to dinner Friday evening for the birthday celebration.  Jackson is trying to talk Charlie into going to Brixx or Red Robin.  We'll see what Charlie decides. 

I can't resist adding this picture of Charlie that must have been scanned into our computer at some point in time.  So, so glad I have it now!  :)   Not sure how old he is here..., but isn't he cute?!?! 

We have pictures of Jackson and Eliza in this cradle too!

Better get back to Scooby Doo...love hearing Jackson giggling beside me!  Not so bad, we're home having a day of rest today.  I'll take it! 

Jackson's Fu Manchu